Uttarakhand Exit Poll 2022 LIVE: Pollsters give BJP maximum average seat share; yet far from magic number

As the last phase of polling came to an end on Monday, and votes have been cast, all eyes now lay upon Thursday, March 10 when the results of Assembly Elections 2022, in five states including Uttarakhand, will be announced. Ahead of the poll results day, the exit polls made predictions regarding the possible average seat share. 

Live Exit Polls Trends:

The exit polls revealed a close competition in Uttarakhand between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress while Aam Aadmi Party and other parties lagged behind. As per the exit poll predictions of C Voter, Congress seems to be leading in the state with 32-38 seats followed by BJP at 26-32 and AAP at 0-2. In the second survey of P MARQ, Congress and BJP have a tough fight with BJP at 34, Congress at 33 and AAP at 1. BJP is shown leading in Jan Ki Baat by 32-41 whereas Congress stands at 27-35, AAP at 00-01 and others at 0-4. As for VETO, BJP leads here too with 37 while Congress, AAP and other parties are at 31, 01 and 01.

Uttarakhand went into polls on February 14 as the people cast their votes for a total of 70-legislative assembly seats. The elections in the hilly state of Uttarakhand were held in single-phase, much like Goa and Punjab. The fate of the total of 632 candidates will be announced on Thursday, March 10 along with the results of other states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

While the state is presently being ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, which was thrown out of power in the 2017 elections, is trying hard to regain its power in this election.

This year, many freebies by various political parties and independent candidates have been promised to the voters, particularly the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

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Voter Turnout: A total of 66.37 per cent of overall voter turnout was recorded in Uttarakhand, with the maximum turnout in Haridwar (74.77%). This was followed by Udham Singh Nagar that recorded 72.27% of voter turnout and Uttarkashi with 68.48%. The lowest voter turnout was recorded in Almora at 53.71%. Compared to the 2017 assembly elections, the hilly state has seen a brief increase in voter turnout as 65.64% of voters had cast their vote for 69 seats in 2017.

What do the opinion polls suggest?

The three major parties that have contested the elections are the ruling BJP, Congress led by former CM Rawat, and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP. BJP is eyeing to win over 60 out of 70 seats which as per the poll observers is a very ambitious figure, given that the ruling party is ignoring the anti-incumbency sentiment in the state. The hilly region, ever since it became a state, has been seeing power changing with every term. As per some poll commentators, it may be difficult for the BJP to win a second term in the state.

The key candidates and their constituencies:

•    Pushkar Singh Dhami (BJP), Khatima seat in Udham Singh Nagar

•    Harish Rawat (INC), Lalkuan in Nanital

•    Madan Kaushik (BJP), Haridwar city

•    Satpal Maharaj (BJP), Chaubattakhal in Pauri Garhwal 

•    Arvind Pandey (BJP), Gadarpur in Udham Singh Nagar

•    Ganesh Godiyal (INC), Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal

•    Umesh Sharma Kau (BJP), Raipur in Dehradun

•    Ganesh Joshi (BJP), Mussoorie

•    Yashpal Arya (INC), Bajpur

•    Qazi Md Nizamuddin (INC), Manglour in Haridwar

•    Dhan Singh Rawat (BJP), Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal

Meanwhile, as per the Election Commission of India guidelines, the exit polls result will be out only after once the last phase of polling concludes, which is at 6 PM on Monday.

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